Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
18th June
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Wednesday 18 June 1969
A report was published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on the British government’s policy in Northern Ireland.
The report was critical of both the British government and the Northern Ireland government.
Thursday 18 June 1970
Westminster General Election
A general election was held across the United Kingdom with the Conservative Party replacing the Labour Party to form the government at Westminster.
Edward Heath became Prime Minister.
Reginald Maudling, was appointed as Home Secretary and had responsibility for Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland the Unionist Party held ‘only’ eight of the 12 seats.
Ian Paisley, gained North Antrim, Frank McManus, a Nationalist unity candidate, gained Fermanagh-South Tyrone, Gerry Fitt held West Belfast and Bernadette Devlin held Mid-Ulster.
Friday 18 June 1971
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Nationalist Members of Parliament (MPs) refuse to attend the state opening of Stormont.
Sunday 18 June 1972
Arthur McMillan & Colin Leslie
(Two of the murdered soldiers)
Three members of the British Army were killed by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb in a derelict house near Lurgan, County Down.
Wednesday 18 June 1975
At Westminster a Bill was introduced to make amendments to the Northern Ireland Emergency Provision Act (1973).
The main amendment had the effect of giving control of detention to the Secretary of State.
Sunday 18 June 1978
Hugh Murphy, then a Catholic priest was kidnapped in retaliation for the abduction of a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer the day before, 17 June 1978.
The kidnappers issued a statement saying that they would return the priest in the same condition as the RUC officer is returned.
A number of Protestant ministers appealed for the priest to be released and he was subsequently returned unharmed.
[On 10 July 1978 the body of Officer Turbitt was discovered. In December 1978 three RUC officers were charged with kidnapping the Catholic priest. The same officers were also charged, along with two additional officers, of killing a Catholic shopkeeper in Ahoghill on 19 April 1977.]
Wednesday 18 July 1979
Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), tried to interrupt Jack Lynch, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) and President of the European Council, but was shouted down by other Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
Wednesday 18 June 1980
Hunger Strike.]
Friday 18 June 1982
Lord Gowrie, then a Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Minister, was quoted as saying:
“Northern Ireland is extremely expensive on the British taxpayer … if the people of Northern Ireland wished to join with the South of Ireland, no British government would resist it for twenty minutes.”
Tuesday 18 June 1991
An additional 500 British Army soldiers arrived in Northern Ireland bringing the total number deployed to approximately 11,000.
Friday 18 June 1993
President Shakes Adams’ Hand
Mary Robinson, then President of the Republic of Ireland, paid an unofficial visit to community groups in Belfast.
The visit went ahead against the wishes of the British government and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO). During the visit Robinson met Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), and shook his hand.
[This gesture provoked a lot of criticism amongst Unionists.]
Robinson also visited Coalisland, in County Tyrone.
Saturday 18 June 1994
Loughlinisland Killings
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) killed six Catholic men and wounded five others in a gun attack on a bar in Loughlinisland, County Down.
The people in the bar were watching a televised World Cup football match when the gunmen entered.
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[The attack was widely condemned. Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said that the “moral squalor” of the killers was beyond description. Dick Spring, then Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs), said it was a “night of savagery”.]
Shots were fired into the home of a Catholic family in Lisburn, County Antrim.
Sunday 18 June 1995
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) rerouted an Orange Order parade away from the Nationalist area of the lower Ormeau Road, Belfast.
Tuesday 18 June 1996
Parts of the centre of Dublin were evacuated in a bomb hoax which was believed to have been made by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).
Friday 18 June 1999
Lee Clegg, then a soldier in the Parachute Regiment, was sentenced to four years for attempting to wound Martin Peake with intent in west Belfast on 30 September 1990.
Clegg was however immediately released because of the time he had already served in prison.
[Clegg was originally convicted of the murder of Karen Reilly during the same incident but was cleared on appeal on 11 March 1999.]
See Lee Clegg
Baroness May Blood
Three people from Northern Ireland were appointed as Working Peers by the Labour government. They were John Laird, a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Stormont MP; Dennis Rogan, then UUP Chairman; and May Bloody, then a Shankill Road community worker.
James McCarry, then a Sinn Féin Councillor, became the first Republican to obtain a firearms licence following the personal intervention of Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Monday 18 June 2001
New Political Talks
Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), launched another attempt to find a resolution of the outstanding issues in the peace process. The two leaders held talks with represetatives of the three main pro-Agreement parties: the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Sinn Féin (SF).
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
13 People lost their lives on the 18th June between 1972 – 1994
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18 June 1972
Arthur McMillan (37)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in derelict house, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
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18 June 1972
Ian Mutch (31)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in derelict house, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down
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18 June 1972
Colin Leslie (26)
nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb in derelict house, Bleary, near Lurgan, County Down.
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18 June 1974
John Forsythe (30)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb while on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol, in entry off Market Street, Lurgan, County Armagh.
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18 June 1976
Robert Craven (51)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Killed in bomb attack on Conway’s Bar, Greencastle, Belfast.
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18 June 1982
Albert White (60)
Catholic
Status: ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary (xRUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Civilian employed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Shot while driving his car, near to his home, Balmoral Park, Newry, County Down.
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18 June 1985
William Gilliland (39)
Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed in land mine attack on Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol, Coragh Glebe, near Kinawley, County Fermanagh.
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18 June 1994
Adrian Rogan (34)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Malcolm Jenkinson (52)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Barney Greene (87)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Daniel McCreanor (59)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Patrick O’Hare (35)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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18 June 1994
Eamon Byrne (39)
Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
Shot, during gun attack, on The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down.
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Belfast Child 